Book-rack.



w. A. snowm BOOK RACK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.26, 1915.

v I I":

MZierflBmu/n Patented Sept. 12,1916.

Ivzz/eniwr:

WALTER A. BROWN, 0F AURORA, ILIiIIN'OIS.

' BOOK-RACK.

niaaiee.

Application filed April 26, 1915.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER A. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Book-Racks; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof,

position and at the proper distance from the reader to permitconvenience and ease in reading.

The features of myinvention are directed to a construction for devicesof the charter described, designed primarily to be detachably supportedon a table or arm of a chair to suit the convenience of the reader,there being provided a suitable clamp for this purpose and, furthermore,a novel arrangement of parts adapted to permit ease in adjusting theposition of the book supporting member as required by the nature of thearticle of furniture to which it is attached, or to suit the convenienceof the reader. These features will be set forth in detail as the deviceis further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a View .in. side elevation of the book rack supportedupon the edge of a table; Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of theadjusting clamp in tightened or clamped position; Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2, showing the parts of the adjusting clamp in' loosenedor unclamped position; Fig. 4c is a detailed cross-sectional view of theadjusting clamp taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an end view of amodified construction of the adjusting clamp; and Fig. 6 isa viewinlongitudinal section of the modified form of adjusting clamp.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the draw ngs, the book rack embodies, in general,a vertical standard or rod 10 provided at its lower end with a clamp 11,adapted to secure the device in fixed position to a suitable ob ect orarticle of furniture, shown herein as secured Specification of LettersPateiit.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Serial No. 23,789.

or clamped to-the edge of a table top 12, although it is equally welladaptedto be secured to the arm of a chair or other obect Withinconvenient access to the user. At right angles to the standard 10 is arack-supporting arm or rod 13 mounted upon said standard by means of anadjust- .able clamping member 14, which engages both the standard andarm, in a manner to permit of a universal adjustment, as willhereinafter be set forth in describing the adjustable clamping member indetail. The rack-supporting arm consists of a cylindric rod, supportedin horizontal position and at right angles to the vertical rod orstandard 10, and at one end is provided with a comparatively short arm15," preferably formed by bending the end portion at right angles to themain or horizontal portion of the arm. The shorter arm 15 normallyassumes a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, and supports the rackproper or book supporting frame 16. The book frame embodies the usualfeatures employed in constructing devices of this character, namely, arectangular frame-work made up of parallel longitudinal and transverseframe members, preferably joined at their ends to one another by pivotalconnections, thereby permitting the frame-work to be folded into anarrow and elongated form to afford ease and convenience in carrying orstoring. The lower margin of the frame is provided with a flange 17extending at right angles to the upper surface of the rack and serving,in the usual manner, as a stop for retaining the book or article inposition upon the rack.

' The supporting frame or rack proper is detachably mounted upon thehorizontal rod 13 by means of a bracket 18 fixed to the under side ofthe frame in any suitable manner and provided with an arm l8 having anendwise and downwardly opening socket adapted to receive the end of thevertical arm 15 of the horizontal rod or a 1 The arm 18 is arranged at as'uita le inclination to the plane of the supporting frame to providethe proper angle for said supporting frame, herein shown asapproximately 45 to the horizontal, so that the book maybe held in theproper position for reading. By reason of the socket c0m1ection betweenthe supporting frame and the arm 13, said frame may be easily removedand, furthermore, canabe swung about a vertical axis to vary theposition of the rack to suit the convenience of the reader.

Referring in detail to the means employed for mounting the deviceuponthe table as shown, the same consists of the substantially U-shapedclamp member '11 of the usual form, wherein the object or article towhich it is clamped is capable of projecting or bethreads. Extendingthrough the sleeve at the upper end of the clamping member 11 is thelower portion of the standard or vertical rod 10, said portion beingprovided with screw-threads, as at 21. At the lower extremity of the rod10 is provided a plate 22 pivotally connected to said rod and locatedintermediate the foot 19 and the sleeve '20 of the clamp 11, said platebeing adapted to engage the upper surface of the table top as shown; Theplate 22 and foot 19 are in vertical alinement and serve as clampingjaws to engage the surfaces of the article to which the device isclamped, the contactsurfaces of said plate and foot being preferablycovered with a layer of felt 23 or like material to prevent the marringof the surfaces. of the table or other article to which the device 'isremovably attached. This arrangement aifords a simple and inexpensiveform of clamp, wherein the rod 10 serves as the tightening member orscrew and is rotated in one-direction or the other to clamp the deviceto or removeit from the table top in the usual manner. It will be shownthat thehorizontal rod 13 can be securely fixed to the vertical rod orstandard 10, so that adequate leverage may be obtained in rotating therod 10 to securely clamp the table top between the plate 22 and foot 19.By this arrangement the use of a separate clamping screw or othertightening means is eliminated, thereby making the device neater inappearance, and, furthermore, providing a construction whereby greaterforce may be applied in clamping the device to the table top than ispossible in usual forms of clamps wherein a clamp screw having a smallhead adapted to be turned with the fingers is employed.

The adjustable clamp 14, shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, isgenerally cylindric in shape and comprises four circular disks- "24, 25,26, and 27, loosely mounted upon a shaft 28 extending axially of thedisks, said disks being free to rotate on the shaft. The disks aremaintained'on the shaft by means of a head 28 at one end of the shaftand a collar 28 rigidly secured. tothe other end of the shaft, thedistance between the head and collar being slightlygreater than thecombined thickness of said disks to permit the disks to be separated ormoved axially to a limited degree, as will hereinafter appear. The clamp14 may be conveniently considered as consisting of two clamping members,each in turn consisting of a pair of disks. Considered, therefore, inthis manner, each clamping member consists of an outer or endmost disk24 or 27 and its next adjacent inner disk 25 or 26 respectively, or, inother words, the pair of disks 24 and 25 constitute one clamping member,and the pair of disks 26 and 27 constitute the other clamping member.The disks constituting. one clamping member, as for instance the pair 24and 25, are rotative with respect to-the other pair of disks or clampingmember, but the disks of each pair are preferablymon: rotative withrespect to each other, and so, also, the disks of each pair may beseparated or moved axially relative to each other, and the clampingmembers may likewise be moved axially with respect to each othen Eachclamping member or pair of disks 24, 25 and 26, 27 is provided with acircular bore or aperture 2.9 and 30 respectively, ex-

tending through each clamping member in ofl'set relation to andapproximately tangentially with the shaft 28, said bores beingpreferably arranged at right angles to each other. The bores 29 and 30are formed by providing a substantially semicircular slot in theadjacent inner surfaces of each air of disks constituting a clampin memer, the bores thus formed being slightly less in their longitudinaldimension than the diameter of the rods 10 and 13, so that, when thedisks arecompressed together in the manner hereinafter described. therods will be gripped tightly between the disks. The horizontal rod 13extends through the bore 29 of the disks 24, 25, and the vertical rod orstandard 10 extends through-the bore I 30 of the disks 26,27 and atapproximately right angles to the rod .13, although the .bores may bearranged with respect to each other to permit any desired angularrelation between the rods.

Referring now to the means whereby the rods may be loosened or.tightened within the clamping members, the coacting faces of theinnermost disks of each pair, namely, the disks 25 and 26, are providedwith cam surfaces, which may be described .as follows: Arranged at equaldistances about the inner face of the disk 25 are a series of foursimilar cam surfaces 31 j (Fig. ,4) inclined at a slight angle to theplane -'.of the disk, each cam surface being preferably separated byanintermediate space having a straight or uninclined face as at 32 (Figs.

masses cam surfaces 34: of the disk 26 are inclined at the same angleand in the same direction as the cam surfaces 31 of the disk 25, so thatby rotating one pair of disks relative to the other the cam disks.25 and26 will approach or depart from each other, depending on the directionin which the pairs of disks are rotated, by reason of the sliding actionof the cam surfaces upon each other.

Since all of the disks are capable of axial movement upon the shaftrelative to each other, the relative rotation of the pairs of disks orclamping members. in one direction will tend to compress the disks, andthe relative rotation in the opposite direction will separate the disks.Thus, if in Fig. 2 the disks 24, and 25 are rotated'in a direction fromright to left, the cam action will efi'ect an approach of the cam diskstoward each other and a consequent separation of the disks of each pair.Fig. 3 shows the pairs of disks after being rotated from right to leftand the increased space between the disks of each pair. By reason ofthis separation it is apparent that the rods 10 and 13 become loosewithin the bores 30 and 29 respectively, and they are free to be movedendwise or rotated; By rotating the pairs relatively to each other inthe opposite direction, the clamping members or pairs of disks are againseparated and the disks of each pair compressed, the rods being therebysecurely gripped between the pairs of disks and held rigidly in place.

. Bearing in mind the operation of the adjusting clamp as justdescribed, its application to the book rack is readily appreciated. InFig. 1 the book rack is shown in fixed position, as indicated in fulllines. In

this position the rods 10 and 13 are at right angles and the clamparranged on said rods,

so that the downward swinging movement of thehorizontal rod tends totighten the adjusting clamp 14 and thus hold the rods securely together,not only in a fixed angular relation, but also grips each rod so as I toprevent the turning of the horizontal rod 13 about its axis and theswinging of said horizontal rod and the supporting frame 16 about thevertical rodlO.

By grasping; the horizontal rod and moving it upwar to say the positionshown in dotted lines, the pair of disks 24 and 25 are rotated in acounter-clockwise direction, which corresponds to the right-to-leftdirection of rotation in Figs. 2 and 3. As a result, the adjusting clampis loosened, as shown in Fig. 3, and the rack can be admitt justedeither by raising or lowering the supporting rod 13- and the adjustingclamp 14 upon the vertical rod, or by increasing or decreasing thelength of the arm 13 by article obviously acts to-maintain the memberssecurely in locked position. As beforementioned, the adjusting clampwhen in tightened position locks the rods 10 and 13 together withadequate security to permit the horizontal arm to be used as a lever totighten and loosen the lower clamp in applying the rack to a table orchair, or for changing it from one to the other, as the desire of thereader dictates.

As a modified form of adjustable clamp 35, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate adesirable departure from that, already described, where- I in the shaft36 thereof is provided at one end with a screw -threaded portionprojecting beyond the adjacent disk and a wing nut 37 mounted on saidthreaded portion. This wing nut replaces the washer shown at one end ofthe clamp 14 in the form'before described, and is preferablv mounted onthe shaft in such manner that it cannot be rotated except whenconditions require. To accomplish this end, the wing nut 37 is providedwith a flange 38 having diametrically arranged, elongated slots '39arranged at suitable intervals aboutitssurface. Adjacent to the end ofthe shaft is a bore 40 extending diametrically therethrough and adaptedto receive a cotterpin 41, which also engages oppositely disposed slots39 of the flange 38 of the wing nut. By this construction it is apparentthat the wing nut cannot be rotated, and hence moved lengthwise of theshaft, without first removing the cotter pin 41. The purpose of thisarrangement is to provide means for decreasing the longitudinal spaceoccupied .by the disks upon the shaft 36 and consequently the amount ofspace that separates the disks. Where the disks, and particularly thecamdisks, are made of comparatively soft metal, the constant wearbetween the coacting faces will in time wear down the cam sur facesuntil the cam surfaces will not produce the proper gripping action inthe clamp, but will slip over each other, due to excessive play betweenthe disks. By providing a wing nut that may be adjusted by hand todecrease the effective length of the shaft, the excessive play may beeliminated and the difliculty before mentioned avoided. By providing thewing nut with the looking feature, said nut is held from rotation uponthe shaft, due to the action of the disks thereon. Qbviously any otherform of nut capable of being locked to the shaft, such as 21 1am nut orsuitable lock nut, may be employed to prevent the undesirable rotationof the nut upon the shaft.

The features embodying my invention are capable of application indevices other than those herein referred to, and, furthermore, thespecific featuresof construction may be variously modified withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. I do not, therefore, wish tobe limited to the specific embodiment herein shown and described, exceptin so far as expressly set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of two rods,and clamping means comprising coacting ,members, one having slidingengagement with one of said rods, the other having sliding engagementwith the other of said rods, said coacting members being provided withcam surfaces acting to effect the clamping of said rods together by theswinging movement of one rod with respect to the other.

2. In a "device of the character described, the combination of two rods,and means for adjustably clamping, said rods together, comprisingclamping members rotative with respect to each other and provided withcam surfaces upon their coacting faces, one of said clamping membersbeing slidably engaged by one of said rods and the other clamping memberbeing slidably engaged by the other of said rods, said cam faces actingto move said clamping members into position to tightly grip said rodswhen said clamping members are rotated relatively to each other by theswinging of one rod about an axis transverse to the axis of the otherrod.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of two rods,and means for adjustably clamping said rods together,

comprising clamping members rotative with respect to each other,eachmember consisting of parts between which one of said rods isslidably retained, said clamping members being provided with coactingcam surfaces adapted to compress the parts of each clamping membertogether to grip said rods, when said members are rotated relatively .toeach other by the swinging of said rods with respect to each other aboutan axis transverse to the axes of said rods.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of two rods,and means for 'adjustably clamping said rods .together, comprisingclamping members rotative with respect to each other, and eachconsisting of a pair of separable disks, each rod being capable ofslidable retention between each pair of said disks, the adjacent disksof each pair being provided with coacting cam surfaces acting tocompress the disks of each pair to grip said rods, when said clampingmembers are rotated relatively to each other by the swinging of saidrods relatively to each other about an axis transverse to the axes ofsaid rods.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of two rods,and means for adjustably clamping said rods together, comprisingclamping members, each consisting of a pair of axially movable disksprovided with grooves in their adjacent surfaces adapted to be slidablyengaged by one of said rods, said clamping members being mounted on ashaft and adapted to be rotated relatively to each other, the adjacentdisks of each of said clamping members being provided with coacting camsurfaces adapted to compress each pairof disks together to grip each ofsaid rods, when said clamping members are rotated relatively to eachother by the swinging of said rods with respect to each other about theaxis of said shaft.

In testimony, that I, claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 16th day of April, A.D. 1915 WALTER A. BROWN.

Witnesses:

, C. L. PEOPLES,

EUGENE C. WANN.

